1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dough products, and more particularly, to edible, refrigerated, yeast-raised pizza dough products for which an extended shelf life in the refrigerated state is desired.
2. Description of Related Art
Polyvalent alcohol fatty acid esters, such as sucrose fatty acid esters, also called "Sucrose Ester", have been known for many years. A process for making certain of these esters was described by Hass et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 2,893,990). Another process for making certain of these esters was described by Osipow et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,616). Goto et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,212) reported the use of certain of these esters as an agent for softening fabrics having excellent moisture absorbability. As noted in this disclosure, an object of this invention was to provide a harmless softening agent prepared by using a material useful as a food additive.
At least some of the polyvalent alcohol fatty acid esters of the present application have been approved for use in foods and are used as emulsifiers, surfactants or surface active agents in foods. These agents have been used in coffee-whitener, whipped topping, ice cream, ice milk, candies, margarine and other fat spreads, drinks, powdered drinks, boiled fish paste, noodles, salad oil, breads, biscuits, chewing gum, meat paste, bean curd, flour paste, and frozen dough. In breads, certain of these esters are stated to "prevent" the deterioration of starch, extend the shelf-life of the finished bread product, enhance its "tenderness" and increase its volume. Certain of the esters are also stated to "prevent" a change in the quality of the bread during freezing. In flour paste, it is stated that it is believed that certain of the esters prevent water-separation and extended shelf life. None of these products are yeast-raised refrigerated dough products, however and none are pizza-type products. Previous uses of esters have been in physical and chemical environments significantly different than a pizza-type product environment.
In yeast-raised refrigerated dough products, the yeast generally starts metabolizing when water is added to the dry matter, and continues to metabolize during refrigeration. The dough matrix is a matrix or system like none of the other food systems discussed above, because of presence of active yeast which is believed to actively metabolize sugars and carbohydrates within the dough matrix during refrigeration, and produce glutathione, which breaks down the protein structure. In the past, it has been particularly difficult to develop a suitable yeast-raised dough, suitable for pizza dough, which will retain its desirable characteristics for even a relatively short period of time, if it is refrigerated. It will be appreciated, therefore, that further improvements to yeast-raised dough products will make valuable contributions to the dough-making and culinary arts.
DK Esters are generally described in the documents entitled "Application of DK ESTER for Baked Goods", and "DK ESTER Sucrose Fatty Acid Ester", DKS International Inc., Overseas Division of Dai-Ichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd. which documents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The use of esters, such as DK Esters, in various products is described in the forty-two U.S. patents listed in the Appendix of the above-identified provisional patent application. Each of the forty-two listed patents is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.